[mdlug] Router - now power.

[Robert Adkins]

> > 
> > 	Can you prove this?
> > 
> 
> With direct statements from the company, No.
> 
> But why can't any other auto manufacturer on the planet 
> (including Japanese and Korean competitors with much lower 
> legacy pension and labor costs) produce a competing vehicle 
> in the same price range?
> 

	The Honda Civic Hybrid and the Chevy Malibu (Which is actually a
larger vehicle to begin with) are both in the same price range for base
models. There's barely $4,000 difference between the base Prius and the base
Malibu.

	Are you just unaware of that or is your definition of price range
incredibly narrow?

	Yeah, the Prius, on its 3rd Generation, is currently the lowest
price Hybrid that I am aware of. They were the first to the market and have
really worked on that technology much longer than Chevy and Honda has. Plus,
I believe that the economy of scale is workin in Toyota's favor, the last
numbers I heard/read showed that the Prius was still outselling the Civic
and Malibus Hybrids considerably.

> Barring the employment of tireless and goodwilled magic elves 
> who don't demand to be paid, the only logical conclusion is 
> that Toyota is taking a loss on all of this.
> 

	Only if you actually throw logic out of the window and decide to
settle on conspiracy.

> It's not like any of this is new technology.
> Hydrocarbon engine-electric motor hybrid drive has been used 
> by navies around the world for over 100 years.
> (submarines), and the individual components (diesel or 
> batteries, DC motors, gasoline engines, differentials being 
> used in dual-input, single-output mode are neither novel, nor 
> nor poorly understood technology -- in fact, they are all 
> very mature -- the oldest and most mature of them all being 
> batteries, being close to 200 years old now.

	Different scales have a great deal to do with the differences in
performance and output.

	-Rob